Response Paper on "The way to wealth"
Response paper
The essay “The way to wealth”, written by Benjamin Franklin and published in 1757, deals with the former bad economical situation in America and gives advice how to escape from it to achieve a wealthier life.
In the following, I will elaborate on the different kinds of virtues that Franklin found important in order to become wealthier as well as the fact that they are still relevant nowadays.
Benjamin Franklin points out that every man can improve his life and accomplish wealth by working hard, spending time efficiently and saving and spending money wisely. If you use your time efficiently, not by being lazy but by working, you will improve your situation. Nobody will ever be successful by being lazy. You cannot expect wealth and success as a result of sloth that comes to you while sitting on the couch and waiting on it; everybody who wants to improve life has to do so by himself. Therefore Franklin points out that “God helps those who helps themselves” (p.221), stating that it is up to every individual to make the best out of his/her life. As long as you do not take responsibility for your own life and do not work for an improved lifestyle, you won’t ever become wealthy. If you do not do so but be lazy, the opposite of wealth, namely poverty will arise in your life: “(…) laziness travels so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him:” (p.221). Nowadays there are many teenagers who do not care about school but rather skip it in order to hang out with friends. They do not seem to think about the consequences they will take out of this behavior. Many are lazy, do not want to work but are on the contrary convinced that they will be rich or even superstars when they are grown up. The still get pocket money from their parents and thus have neither an idea about hard work nor about investing money wisely, which leads me to the following aspect: Franklin also comments on the widespread vice of excessive spending; people ran in debts, and still do so
The essay “The way to wealth”, written by Benjamin Franklin and published in 1757, deals with the former bad economical situation in America and gives advice how to escape from it to achieve a wealthier life.
In the following, I will elaborate on the different kinds of virtues that Franklin found important in order to become wealthier as well as the fact that they are still relevant nowadays.
Benjamin Franklin points out that every man can improve his life and accomplish wealth by working hard, spending time efficiently and saving and spending money wisely. If you use your time efficiently, not by being lazy but by working, you will improve your situation. Nobody will ever be successful by being lazy. You cannot expect wealth and success as a result of sloth that comes to you while sitting on the couch and waiting on it; everybody who wants to improve life has to do so by himself. Therefore Franklin points out that “God helps those who helps themselves” (p.221), stating that it is up to every individual to make the best out of his/her life. As long as you do not take responsibility for your own life and do not work for an improved lifestyle, you won’t ever become wealthy. If you do not do so but be lazy, the opposite of wealth, namely poverty will arise in your life: “(…) laziness travels so slowly, that poverty soon overtakes him:” (p.221). Nowadays there are many teenagers who do not care about school but rather skip it in order to hang out with friends. They do not seem to think about the consequences they will take out of this behavior. Many are lazy, do not want to work but are on the contrary convinced that they will be rich or even superstars when they are grown up. The still get pocket money from their parents and thus have neither an idea about hard work nor about investing money wisely, which leads me to the following aspect: Franklin also comments on the widespread vice of excessive spending; people ran in debts, and still do so